since the Lion "upgrade" my battery life has dropped to around 90 mins under "light" usage. I've done the 2 x resets suggested; alt/cmd/p/r reboot and the other one [forgot what it's called]. Still Lion "eats" my battery power

So, anyone got the inside tale of when Apple will sort this?

I must say, for the 1st time in 26 years as a Mac user, I'm pretty much annoyed beyond all possible belief by this shockingly poor low rent muppetational upgrade.

Whether Apple does something about this in the next patch (10.7.2) is anyone's guess. What is illusive about the battery usage and quicker drain with Lion, is that it does not effect all Mac notebook computers.

One thing that will run the battery down somewhat is that Time Machine runs (makes backups) whether or not its external hard drive is attached. It backs up to the internal hard drive and then exports that to the external once it's attached again. You can turn off automatic backups from the Time Machine system preference panel to see if that helps.

Otherwise, the solution to better battery usage is downgrade back to Snow Leopard until Apple addresses the problem. Note: They have yet to acknowledge that there is a problem.

Whether Apple does something about this in the next patch (10.7.2) is anyone's guess. What is illusive about the battery usage and quicker drain with Lion, is that it does not effect all Mac notebook computers.

One thing that will run the battery down somewhat is that Time Machine runs (makes backups) whether or not its external hard drive is attached. It backs up to the internal hard drive and then exports that to the external once it's attached again. You can turn off automatic backups from the Time Machine system preference panel to see if that helps.

Otherwise, the solution to better battery usage is downgrade back to Snow Leopard until Apple addresses the problem. Note: They have yet to acknowledge that there is a problem.

cheers, Time Machine is always off here as I back up rarely. I'll just drink beer and complain whenever I can get a hearing

Terrible really, I always thought Apple were better than this, I was pleased to roam in Benz territory, but seems I'm now actually running a Ford. great

Terrible really, I always thought Apple were better than this, I was pleased to roam in Benz territory, but seems I'm now actually running a Ford. great

I know how important battery runtime can be to a laptop user. But it hardly seems fair to give Apple such a bad "wrap" after the Lion upgrade.

I bet that you were very very happy with your MacBook Pro when you were running Snow Leopard (10.6)...so things really shouldn't change 180 degrees so quickly. If there truly is a problem with some Apple laptop models and the Lion upgrade...let's hope it gets resolved (and resolved soon).

This is possibly one of the hazards of being an early adopter of a new OS version. I still haven't upgraded any of my Mac's to Lion (but I've been tempted)!

- Nick

- Too many "beachballs", read this: Beachballs- Computer seems slower than it used to? Read this for some slow computer tips: Speedup- Almost full hard drive? Some solutions. Out of Space- Apple Battery Info. Battery

Roll back to Snow Leopard, it really is the only solid solution. I really don't believe that Apple would publicly acknowledge this bug anyway, especially with their emphasis on their portables battery life. Will there be a fix? I'd wager there will be. When? Not a clue. Will it be announced in the fix list? Also not a clue.

I know how important battery runtime can be to a laptop user. But it hardly seems fair to give Apple such a bad "wrap" after the Lion upgrade.

I bet that you were very very happy with your MacBook Pro when you were running Snow Leopard (10.6)...so things really shouldn't change 180 degrees so quickly. If there truly is a problem with some Apple laptop models and the Lion upgrade...let's hope it gets resolved (and resolved soon).

This is possibly one of the hazards of being an early adopter of a new OS version. I still haven't upgraded any of my Mac's to Lion (but I've been tempted)!

- Nick

I buy a product, I expect it to work. I like progress to be demonstrable. This is not progress. I don't think Apple are going to worry too much about how things are at 'Chez Karlos'. I simply feel it's a tawdry & poor show to have not Beta tested it more widely. I would be embarassed ... but hey, I have higher standards it would seem. Let's hope they wake up & catch up ......

Ho hum.

On the bright side, I could have Windows Vista, in which case I would top myself.

Roll back to Snow Leopard, it really is the only solid solution. I really don't believe that Apple would publicly acknowledge this bug anyway, especially with their emphasis on their portables battery life. Will there be a fix? I'd wager there will be. When? Not a clue. Will it be announced in the fix list? Also not a clue.

It would sure be nice if Apple would come out with a fix...if this battery issue is truly related to Lion, and not an individual issue.

Being that the OP's MacBook Pro is a 2008 model...who knows if the age (older) is a "demotivating" factor for an Apple fix. I have a 2007 MBP...and if I upgraded to Lion...I wouldn't want to experience the same battery issue.

- Nick

- Too many "beachballs", read this: Beachballs- Computer seems slower than it used to? Read this for some slow computer tips: Speedup- Almost full hard drive? Some solutions. Out of Space- Apple Battery Info. Battery

I buy a product, I expect it to work. I like progress to be demonstrable. This is not progress. I don't think Apple are going to worry too much about how things are at 'Chez Karlos'. I simply feel it's a tawdry & poor show to have not Beta tested it more widely. I would be embarassed ... but hey, I have higher standards it would seem. Let's hope they wake up & catch up ......

If you've been an Apple "fanboy" since 1985 (very similar to my own Apple product experience)...you've seen MUCH worse issues & changes from Apple in the last 26 years than this!!!

- Nick

- Too many "beachballs", read this: Beachballs- Computer seems slower than it used to? Read this for some slow computer tips: Speedup- Almost full hard drive? Some solutions. Out of Space- Apple Battery Info. Battery

I have the same issue with my battery since installing Lion. I thought it was just me. I have 200 load cycles on my macbook pro. The way our electrical outlets are set up in our house I use the battery quite often. I guess it's time for extension cords. I wish they made the cord just a little longer.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
Mahatma Gandhi

Roll back to Snow Leopard, it really is the only solid solution. I really don't believe that Apple would publicly acknowledge this bug anyway, especially with their emphasis on their portables battery life. Will there be a fix? I'd wager there will be. When? Not a clue. Will it be announced in the fix list? Also not a clue.

I know you've mentioned this a time or two now. Have you found any rhyme or reason to it? Like a runaway process, or something consuming CPU cycles abnormally? I have to wonder what in particular is drawing so much more power - it has to be a daemon or something phoning home and using WiFi more actively.

Liquid and computers don't mix. It might seem simple, but we see an incredible amount of people post here about spills. Keep drinks and other liquids away from your expensive electronics!

I know you've mentioned this a time or two now. Have you found any rhyme or reason to it? Like a runaway process, or something consuming CPU cycles abnormally? I have to wonder what in particular is drawing so much more power - it has to be a daemon or something phoning home and using WiFi more actively.

Nope, no runaways, no zombies. This would occur with less than 4% CPU utilization and WELL after spotlight and time machine had completed indexing. For the record, iostat also showed a pretty non-exciting disk usage at the time. Resetting the SMC, PRAM, and recalibrating the battery didn't resolve it. In the end, the only thing that did was reverting. Happily back to more than 2 hours of battery life.

I have not seen this problem at all and i have run my MBP on battery more in Lion than i have in SL. I only have 70odd cycles, and when i use it off Battery is when watching TV via my Elegato Dongle. Im getting around 3 Hrs TV time on average, with the screen set at just under half brightness.
Heck its not the battery life that has me wanting to roll back. Im Missing something major for me in System Preferences

EDIT - @OP do you have iStat Menus installed ??
I was thinking bc everyone is going on about processes, i wondered what my Mac was pulling power wise in all my components, So i opened up iStat and this is a screen shot of all Volts/Watts used. With me not having battery problems would be nice to have something to check against.
Down the bottom when i pull put the Power Cord shows 00.0W for DC and 30.00w for Battery.

Cheers

Dont forget to use the Reputation System if someone has helped you out !!!Arguing with a zealot is only slightly easier than tunneling through a mountain with your forehead!!!!!MoTM☆☆☆